


Mand'alor Chi'ra

by King_of_Vinland



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Mandalore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-12 22:02:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21483544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/King_of_Vinland/pseuds/King_of_Vinland
Summary: Having spent her whole life training in the Imperial Navy, Cadet Adora is given her first command -an assault on the Mandalorian village of Thaymor, a stronghold for Clan Mizar.   However, her experience will force her to reexamine what she thought she knew and forever change her life.
Kudos: 12





	1. The Attack on Thaymor

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first real fic, but there were so many details from She-Ra that fit the Mandalorians so well, I decided to write it. Feedback is always appreciated.
> 
> Mand'alor is the traditional title for the ruler of the Mandalorian people. Usually they take an epithet describing their key role or attribute. In this case it is "chi'ra", which I am gonna claim means "protector."
> 
> As most of the characters in the reboot of She-Ra don't have last names, I used references to the old series for Clan names.

As always, Adora was the first to line up for inspection - her uniform immaculate and her stance rigid. The other cadets soon joined her, except Catra, surprising no one. 

“Where’s Catra?” she asked the woman next to her.

“Shouldn’t you be the one to know?” the other cadet, Lonnie, hissed back.

Before Adora could respond, Inquisitor Shadow Weaver entered the room. Instantly, the room fell silent and everyone snapped to attention. Her glowing eyes surveyed the room, before settling on the empty space next to Adora.

“I see Cadet Catra could not be bothered to join us again” Shadow Weaver hissed, the disdain in her voice setting Adora on edge.

“I saw her in the hall earlier, she was uh…” before Adora finish the door slid open again and Catra casually strolled in, taking her spot.

“Please continue Adora, what was Catra doing before deciding to grace us with her presence?” Shadow Weaver asked. Catra began to speak before Shadow Weaver cut her off, “I was asking Adora, I don’t remember asking for your input.”

“She was...helping one of the younger cadets update their security codes” Adora said, stumbling over every word as she struggled to come up with anything. On either side of her, Catra and Lonnie tried to stifle their laughter. Shadow Weaver did not appear to believe Adora, but did not seem to want to spend any more time on this either.

“Now that we’re all here, we can get started with the briefing.” The holomap flashed on behind Shadow Weaver, zooming in on the Mandalorian Sector. “The occupation of Mandalorian space has been one of the most troublesome areas for Imperial operations. In particular, the Despondos system has been a constant thorn in the side of Viceroy Saxon.” The map zoomed in further on a smaller border system - There were a few planets, but most habitation was located on the third planet and its numerous moons. “With his advice, Clan D’Ream, currently headed by Countess Scorpia, has been placed in control of the system. However, its old rulers, Clan Mizar have refused to step down and gone into open rebellion. Your mission will be to attack the rebel holdout at Thaymor.” The map focused on the main planet, a small red light locating the site. “The armory in the center of town should have a significant deposit of valuable material known as _beskar_. Cadet Rogelio will command the AT-ST unit as Acting Lieutenant, Cadet Lonnie the air support as another Acting Lieutenant, and Cadet Adora will be Acting Captain for this operation. Any questions?” 

“What about Cadet Catra Ma’am?” Adora asked.

“She has not demonstrated the necessary qualities for command” Shadow Weaver said, trying to quickly move on.

“Can she serve as my second then?” Adora said, pressing the issue more than she probably should.

“If you truly think you can manage her” Shadow Weaver said, glaring at Catra all the while.

“She won’t be a problem ma’am” 

“She better not be." Shadow Weaver said, glaring at Catra. "We will be exiting hyper in two hours, have your units ready by then. Dissmissed” The cadets saluted and turned, walking calmly out of the room.

“ ‘Helping one of the younger cadets’ really Adora, that's the best you could come up with?” Lonnie said as soon as they were safely out of earshot of Shadow Weaver. 

“I needed something”

“You could’ve just said I didn’t want to be there, we all know you’re a terrible liar. Wouldn't want to tarnish your stellar reputation.” Catra chimed in.

“You know I don’t want to be her favorite. She creeps me out as much as anyone. Not that that matters for long now, we finally got our own command.” The four friends began to celebrate, cut short as a senior officer rounded the corner. He glared at them as they saluted. Catra made a rude gesture as he turned his back that Adora tried to swipe away, only effectively drawing more attention to themselves. He shot back another dirty look before walking away. Lonnie and Rogelio tried to hide their laughter, barely able to contain themselves until he left their sight. 

“Well Rogelio and I should head down to the hangar, make sure everything’s ready to go. You oughta as well” Lonnie said before the two of them peeled off, Adora and Catra continuing back to the barracks.

“I can’t believe we’re finally getting out there.” said Adora.

“You’re finally getting out there, I’m just tagging along” Catra said under her breath.

“Look I’m sorry Catra, I don’t know why Shadow Weaver won’t acknowledge your abilities. Your scores are just as good as anyone’s. Half the time they’re even better.”

“Whatever, we’ll be out of here soon. Won't have to deal with her for long.” she said, trying to avoid Adora’s gaze. 

“Yeah after we easily win this battle, they’ll have no choice but to give us our own command and let us off this ship. Ohh maybe we’ll even get our own ships. What should we name our ships Catra?"

* * *

So far everything had gone according to plan. The ships landed and unloaded without issue and their short march towards Thaymor seemed to go unnoticed. On the forested ridge above the town, Adora, Catra, and the stormtroopers hid in the undergrowth, watching the town through binoculars.

“I don’t see any sign of defenses.” Adora whispered.

“Neither do I, this should be super easy” Catra shot back, moving to start the attack.

“No I meant I don’t think they’re rebels.” Adora said as she grabbed Catra’s wrist

“What are expecting, a bright sign saying ‘rebel hideout’ as they burn the imperial flag? Now let's get going before someone notices us.” she said as she pulled her hand free, stealthily moving through cover towards the town. Adora gave the signal to the rest of the troopers, beginning the assault.

“Squads 1 and 2 secure the perimeter, 3 and 4 with me to the armory.” Adora said as she broke into a sprint, taking cover behind an abandoned building. Dashing from alley to alley, Adora and her troopers slowly made their way to the center of town unnoticed. The armory was supposed to be the tall building on the far side of the plaza. Two guards in the iconic armor of the mandalorians stood at the door to the building in the otherwise empty plaza. On her signal, two troopers fired, the guards taken out with practiced ease. Adora led the silent dash to the armory and was the first through the door. 

The interior was poorly lit and unlike the imperial armories she had grown up with in every way. There were hundreds of the ornately decorated helmets here, but little else. 

“You four, check the other floors, see if there is anything besides helmets here. The rest start taking what you can.” Adora ordered as she studied the room. Each helmet had its own place on the rows of shelves, carefully labelled by the name of the wearer. Below their names were dates, some stretching back hundreds of years. 

“Why only helmets? And what are these dates?” she wondered aloud.

“I don’t know and I don’t think we’re supposed to care ma’am.” the trooper next to her replied, stuffing a crate with as many as he could grab.

“Ma’am, it's just helmets in here” one of the troopers she had sent off reported back.

“Well grab what you can, we need to move fast before we’re noticed.” 

As if on cue, an alarm rang out across the city. In the distance, she heard her troopers start firing, followed quickly by the advancing thumping of Rogelio moving his walkers into position.

“Take what we’ve got and get out of here.” she ordered, staying behind to make sure all her troopers got out of the building.

As she finally left the building, she saw a few Mandalorian warriors finally appear, their armor hastily donned and clearly unsuspecting of an attack. They were too few though, easily falling to her troopers covering fire. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Catra effortlessly running circles around a few warriors, dodging their shots with ease, almost toying with them. Adora rushed on, spinning around a corner. It was a dead end with an elderly woman hiding in there. She started to hit Adora with her broom, more annoying than dangerous. Adora lowered her blaster, trying to put the woman at ease. 

“Hey cut it out, I'm not gonna hurt you.” Suddenly she heard a faint humming behind her, managing to spin out of the way just as a dark blade rushed by her face. She grabbed her attackers wrist, pulling his arm down hard on her shoulder, snapping his elbow with a sickening crunch. The strange blade dropped from his hand and Adora grabbed it just before it hit the ground. Acting on instinct alone, she switched it back on, driving it into the chest of her attacker. It was over before she could even think about it. 

Adora turned towards the man, watching him fall unceremoniously to the ground. Her strike had gone just between the plates of his armor, piercing his heart and killing him instantly. Behind him, explosions rocked the city, buildings burned and families fled her troopers advancing mercilessly. She stared in horror as a family was hit by a stray shell, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and debris. A trooper rounded towards her blaster fixed on the woman behind her. 

“NO” Adora shouted rounding on the man, the blade still active in her hand. Its black light cut through the man with ease, the stench of ozone and burnt flesh tinging the air. Her eyes went wide with terror as she knelt beside the man, stripping his armor in a futile attempt to heal him. She tore through his kit for the emergency bacta pack as the life drained from his face, dumping as much as she could on the deep gash of burnt flesh across his chest. Though it was too little, too late, Adora was in no state to recognize this.

“Captain Adora to all units - All units retreat, say again all units retreat. Center peel to the rendezvous point.” she ordered over the coms, dragging the body of the trooper with her. She looked back to see if the woman was alright, but she had apparently taken the opportunity to flee. Adora hoped the woman made it out of town safely.

“Lieutenant Lonnie to Captain Adora, do you need air support, bombers are standing by?”

“Stand down Lieutenant, prepare for evacuation. We've done enough here...” 


	2. Clan Mara

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora tries to make right what she had done the night before.

"Why would you order a retreat? Your forces had the advantage" Shadow Weaver said, towering above Adora. 

"There were unacceptable losses for the taking of a target of no strategic value." Adora said, refusing to be cowed by Shadow Weaver. 

"Please elaborate. I don't see how a rebel force able to inflict "heavy" losses on your troopers has no strategic value. These losses consisting of one death and two minor injuries."

"The town was almost exclusively civilians and the armory itself was not an armory. It seemed to be of greater symbolic value to its citizens than strategic importance to anyone. The building itself only had a token guard presence and had nothing but helmets in it. Seeing as our intel was wrong, there were increasing civilian casualties - aside from our own relatively few casualties - and significant collateral damage I determined that the correct course of action would be to withdraw and reassess.”

“There are casualties in war Adora. I thought you of all people would know that.”

“Of course, but it still seemed wrong to sacrifice innocent lives for a target of no apparent strategic value.”

“Do you know how much _beskar_ was recovered today?”

“No ma’am”

“Enough to outfit two platoons with reinforced armor. Is that not of strategic value?”

“It is ma’am”

“Maybe next time you’ll consider that. You are not a strategist Adora and you would do well to remember that.”

“Yes ma’am. I would also like it to be clear that any failure of the mission was solely my own. Regardless of my own shortcomings, Cadets Lonnie, Rogelio, and Catra all performed excellently, following through with my orders without question or error.”

“I already know Cadets Lonnie and Rogelio did their parts well. In fact, Cadet Lonnie will be leading the assault on Thaymor tomorrow. You will not be participating, seeing as you are unable to follow orders.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Dismissed”

Adora saluted before leaving as fast as decorum would allow. As she turned the corner, Catra surprised her.

“Well you’re still in one piece so I guess it wasn’t that bad,” she said.

“I’m alive but that's probably about it. There’s no way I’ll get my command now. Honestly, I’m not even sure if I _ want _ that anymore” Adora said. 

“What? You’ve always wanted to be a Captain. What’s new?”

“Catra, what if we’re wrong. The Empire didn’t bring order to Thaymor, we looted it. We killed innocent people. How can we fight like that?”

“Cause if we didn’t, they’d be the people looting our homes. The galaxy is full of cutthroats and scum. This is our way to come out on top.” Catra responded, though Adora barely seemed to register it. 

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“I never said it was. The Empire is what keeps us alive. I tried the whole scavenging for scraps on the low levels of Coruscant. It isn’t where we should be Adora.”

“I want to fight for what’s right though. I thought that was the Empire…”

“It wasn’t the Republic, it wasn’t the Separatists, and it isn’t the Empire. It's every man for themselves out there and being ‘good’ doesn’t get you anywhere but dead.”

“I don’t know Catra, I still think we have to try. I have to do _ something _.” She turned and began to walk down the hall.

“Adora, where are you going? ADORA” Catra called down after her.

“Just cover for me for a little bit, I should be back by the morning,” she shouted back, ignoring whatever else Catra shouted down to her.

The events of the past day played over and over in Adora’s head. The strange details of the “armory” they raided, the burning ruins of the village, the trooper she had killed. This wasn’t what this was supposed to be - the Empire was a force for good, replacing the corruption and decadence of the Republic with order and peace. But she brought neither peace nor order with her to Thaymor. Before long, she found her way to the processing room on board. 

She stepped in, unsure of what she was doing. A trooper opened a crate of helmets and pulled one out, smashing the visor out and snapping the antenna off before tossing it into a pile of other broken helmets. 

“What are you doing to those?” 

“Sorting them, we really just need them for the _beskar_. Already got a pretty good haul,” the trooper said, gesturing to a pile of recently cast ingots. “Should I be doing something else?”

“We just need a couple for … weapons testing. Are there any unbroken ones?”

The trooper gestured to a crate off to the side and getting back to work. She opened it and found about a dozen helmets stashed inside. They had been battered, but no major damage had been done. She closed the crate and began to push it out of the room when something caught her eye. The strange blade she had killed two men with sat on the shelf, looking deceptively unassuming. After some thought, she brought it with her, shoving it into a back pocket. 

Slipping into a TIE flight-suit, she was able to blend in with the numerous troopers and mechanics working in the Hangar Bay. A lone TIE Scout sat off to the side, tucked away from the others. She took the crate over to it, loading it into the back before hopping in herself. The _ Black Garnet _had stayed in orbit of Etheria and it would be a short trip down. She would drop the helmets off, maybe leave a note warning them about the upcoming attack, and fly back. All in all, it should take barely an hour, hopefully no one would even notice she was gone. 

* * *

There was a small clearing, not far from Thaymor that she landed in. The rough terrain did not suit the TIE well, but she managed to touch down without too much damage to it. It would be hard to explain the damage when she got back but she could worry about that later. For now, she had to get back to Thaymor, returning what she could to the people she had taken so much from. She set out towards the village, pushing through the dense underbrush, dragging the crate of helmets behind her.

“I’m telling you Bow, I saw a TIE fly down here.” Adora heard a voice say from up ahead. She froze, trying desperately to blend in the bushes. A pair of Mandalorians trudged through the woods. The one speaking seemed to be the shorter woman wearing bright purple armor. Her companion - Bow? - was probably about Adora’s size, the breastplate of his white and gold armor cut short, just barely covering his ribcage.

“Why would a single TIE fly down here Glimmer?”

“Well how am I supposed to know? That's why we gotta investigate.”

“Didn’t your mom say, very emphatically, _ not _to go looking for trouble?”

“Quiet Bow, I think I heard something,” she said, and Adora froze until the pair started looking for something in the other direction. Relieved, Adora let out the breath she was holding, probably a bit too loudly, as the Mandalorians spun around, firing blindly into the bushes.

“DON”T SHOOT” Adora shouted as she jumped up, hands held high, “I just came to return these. I don’t even have a blaster” gesturing to the crate.

“Returning? What? Who are you?” the short one - Glimmer? - demanded. 

Adora slowly went to open the crate, pulling one of the helmets out. 

“These are the helmets we stole from Thaymor. Or what's left of them, some - most -got melted down to ingots before I got to them.” she tossed the helmet over to them. Bow dropped his blaster as he tried to catch it, juggling it for a minute before it clattered to the ground.

“And why should we trust you _ imperial _” Glimmer said, the disdain dripping off of the last word.

“My name’s Adora, I’m not just some Imperial. I...don’t know why should trust me… just take them please. I should never have taken them in the first place. I’m sorry.”

“They’re probably filled with bombs or trackers or something right Bow?” Glimmer said turning to her partner. 

“I mean this one doesn’t have anything added to it, and my sensors aren’t picking up anything from the crate. Just a lot of beskar. I think she’s telling the truth Glimmer.”

“Please just take them, I’ve got to get back before anyone notices I’m gone.”

“Why are you giving them back then?” Bow asked.

“The more I thought about it, this seemed like the right thing…” Adora said meekly. 

“I think she’s telling the truth” Bow said, turning to Glimmer.

“Maybe. I guess we can take them back, but you’ve gotta come with us too.” Glimmer said, before turning and walking back towards town.

“Wait, I can’t go with you, I’ve gotta get back.”

“Why do you need to get back so desperately?” Glimmer shot back.

“What if someone notices I’m gone?”

“If you’re so concerned about your reputation with the Imperials, then you wouldn’t have done this. You think they won’t know you stole these back? Unless you had some Grand Plan?”

“Well I … guess I didn’t think that far.”

“Just come on into town, you would’ve walked this much anyways,” Bow offered.

“Fine, but we should hurry.” Adora conceded, grabbing the crate and walking towards them.

Adora stayed a few paces behind the two of them as they made the short trip back to Thaymor, hearing only every other muttered word the two said. Based off of their emphatic gestures, she assumed they were talking about her. 

The village was filled with rubble and work crews trying to clear what they could. In the center of the plaza, a table was set out with people distributing food to the townsfolk and workers. As the three stepped into town all eyes turned towards them. Adora tried to avoid their piercing gaze, but everywhere she looked someone stood staring, her stolen TIE flight suit making her stick out like a sore thumb. 

“We return with the _ ky’ram’gar _stolen by the Imperials,” Glimmer shouted to the crowd, “and an IMPERIAL DEFECTOR.” The crowd erupted into cheers. For a second the fear and despair that had filled the town was replaced with a sense of victory. Adora turned to Bow, whispering to him.

“I don’t know if I’m defecting Bow, I'm just trying to do what's right..”

“Glimmer’s just giving them something to be excited about and mandos love turning an enemy. Though really bringing back the _ ky’ram’gar _ would be enough for that.”

“What does that even mean? Why not just say helmet”

“_Ky’ram’gar _? That’s not just helmet, I guess it means ‘the last of the dead.’ I don’t know, it doesn’t translate well to basic.”

“Wait those were graves? We robbed a GRAVEYARD?” Adora hissed, trying not to draw anymore attention to herself.

“Yeah, what did you think you were doing?”

“They said it was an armory...I knew something was wrong. What armory doesn’t have armor,” Adora slumped down even more, nearly curling in on herself. 

“Hey, you brought it back, that's what really matters.” Bow said trying to cheer her up, though Adora had no idea why.

“No that’s not what matters. We robbed graves. We killed innocent people so we could rob graves. That’s so wrong Bow.” 

“I’ve seen what the Imperials do firsthand Adora, they do way worse without trying to make it better or showing the slightest remorse. That’s why what you’re doing matters.” Adora stared at him with complete confusion. “That’s why she said you were defecting, not that you were captured. You could come with us Adora.”

“How could you let me in after what I did? Who I worked with? Who I _ am _?”

“Adora, we want you to come with us _ because _of who you are, not in spite of it.”

“You don’t know me Bow…”

“I don’t think you know yourself Adora. You’re a good person, trying to do the right thing. Don’t let the past ruin you.”

Adora went tense as she heard the telltale hum of a TIE engine faintly in the distance.

“TIEs INBOUND” she shouted, pulling Bow behind a nearby building as a trio of fighters flew across the horizon, opening fire on the town. Adora ducked out, relieved that her warning had given most people a chance to get cover. Across the way, Glimmer sprung to action and launched a small missile from her pack, taking out the wing of one of the fighters. Adora watched it crash just beyond the treeline as the remaining fighters swung back for another run. Blasters fired back at them from around the plaza, not dealing any real damage but also distracting the pilots long enough for a few more warriors to get into their armor, ready to take the field. 

“Bow, we’ve gotta get these people out of here, troopers will be coming any second now.” Adora said. Seemingly summoned by her, dozens of troopers poured over the ridge, Catra at their head.

“EVERYONE TO THE NORTH GATE LET'S GO.” He shouted over the din, ushering people to follow him.

“NO, that's the easiest path for the AT-STs to come from. You have to go another way” Adora said, grabbing his hand. Bow turned to face her, staring at her for a second.

“YOU HEARD HER, TO THE SOUTH GATE” he shouted back, grabbing a few kids as he escorted who he could. Glimmer and her cadre of warriors flew over towards the fleeing civilians, covering their escape and opening fire into the advancing stormtroopers. Glimmer landed next to Adora and handed her a spare pistol.

“Here, you’ll need this”

“How can you trust me with this?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Glimmer said before leaping back into the air.

Adora turned the pistol over in her hand as she considered her options. These were people she had spent her life with, the closest thing she had to a family. If she fired, she could never go back. Never see Catra - or any of the others - ever again. But even if she didn’t fire, she knew she couldn’t really go back. The Empire was not the force she thought it was, they weren’t bringing order to the galaxy, only pain and suffering. Reluctantly, she fired the pistol into the advancing troopers, each shot taking another man down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone stumble to the ground. Adora rushed to her side, covering her as she continued to fire into people she had commanded just the day before. As she helped the woman to her feet, she realized it was the same woman as from the night before. 

“GO, I’ll keep them busy” Adora told her. The elderly woman ducked and scrambled to rejoin the others. 

“Adora?” Adora turned back around to see Catra standing there, staring at her shocked.

“Catra. I’m so glad you’re here”

“Yeah, I’m glad I found you. Now let’s go, I can’t believe you got captured.”

“I wasn’t captured Catra, I came to return what we stole.”

“Adora what’s going on? Are you ok? Did they do something to you?”

“No Catra, that wasn’t an armory we raided. Those helmets we stole were gravestones.”

“So? Look we’ve got you now. Now get it together and let’s go home.”

“Catra I can’t go back, this is wrong. But we don’t have to go back. You can come with me. I think they would take us in.”

“And spend the rest of our lives running? No, now don’t make me take you.” Catra said, effortlessly knocking the pistol out of Adora’s grasp.

“No, I’m not going back Catra.” she said, reaching for the pistol. Catra scowled, kicking Adora in the chest and knocking her back. Adora caught her balance shifting into a fighting stance. The two had sparred countless times before, but this was different. Catra flew into the attack, throwing a high roundhouse kick before switching it to a low front kick at the last second. Adora had taught her that move years ago and effortlessly swatted it away, throwing a strong punch right to Catra’s core. With practiced ease, Catra flew out of the way, kicking high as she dodged. Adora turned so the kick landed on her side. The two had always been well balanced - while Catra could hit more, Adora could take more. When Adora threw another punch though, Catra was ready. She ducked out of the way and threw a few quick punches, knocking the wind out of Adora. As she collapsed to the ground, Catra loomed over her.

“Now get up and come back with us” Catra said as she began to walk away.

She got to her knees, looking between Catra and Glimmer. It would be so easy to just go back with Catra - and she was right, if she didn’t she would spend the rest of her probably short life running and fighting. But she didn’t know if she could live with herself if she did. As she regained her breath, she knew she had made her choice the second she left the _ Black Garnet _ \- she would never be going back. 

“No, I’m not going back Catra.” Catra stared at her for a minute, pain filling her eyes before she turned away from Adora, retreating into the haze of battle, refusing to acknowledge Adora.

She watched Catra disappear until a shot hit the wall next to Adora, snapping her back to reality. Deciding she needed to fight, she searched for a weapon nearby before remembering the strange blade she had taken from her last fight. She pulled it out, flicking it on in a smooth motion. The blade extended from the angular hilt, the purest black cutting into the air. Everything felt still and calm as Adora let her training take over, charging forward, tackling a trooper to the ground, and striking his helmet with the hilt of the sword. The trooper next in the line turned to face her but she sliced his blaster in half with the blade, knocking him back in the process. As someone else shot at her, she swung the blade to cover her face, the shot miraculously bouncing of the blade. She charged forward, effortlessly clearing a path before her as she rushed to one of the walkers closing in on the town. As she slashed at one of the joints, the blade sliced through the metal with ease. The walker collapsed in a heap to the ground as its pilot struggled to free himself.

Behind her the Mandalorians rallied, and Adora heard cries of _ Dha’beskad _ and _ Mand’alor _come from the crowd. Troopers fell before her as the Mandalorians surged forward, finally going on the offensive. In just a second, the tide of battle had shifted and the stormtroopers were on the backfoot, retreating back into the forest.

Glimmer landed next to Adora, watching the last of the stormtroopers disappear. She pulled Adora into a hug as Bow joins them.

“I knew you would stay with us. Why didn’t you say you had the Darksaber?”

“Oh the sword? I forgot I had it honestly. Here” as she goes to hand it over to Glimmer, everyone recoiled from her. “Do you not want it?”

“Adora, I can’t just take that from you, its sacred!”

“Oh then I really shouldn’t have it.”

“You can’t just get rid of it, someone has to defeat you and take it from you. How did you get it in the first place?”

“The other night someone attacked me with it…I guess I defeated him...”

“You defeated the wielder of the Darksaber in single combat.”

“Yeah I didn’t mean to, I just reacted and then it was over and he was dead…”

“Well this changes some things Adora. We need to adopt you into the clan.”

“What? I’m not Mandalorian though? I’m an imperial who attacked your homes.”

The old woman Adora had rescued approached her. “Twice now you have saved me, twice now _ ar’nov aliit _, you are Mandalorian in your heart.” She tapped Adora’s chest in emphasis. 

Bow spoke up next, “You fight the good fight, and you do it well Adora. That’s what it means to be Mandalorian. I know many born on Mandalore who deserve the name far less than you.” 

“I’d take you into my family Adora, but I don’t have the authority.” Glimmer said before turning to the crowd, “Will anyone take Adora into their clan?” To Adora, it looked like half the town volunteered to take her in, willing to take in a disgraced imperial who had no right to their kindness.

The old woman stepped forward. “Please Glimmer, let me. She has shown her willingness to defend us twice now.”

“Of course Razz, it is fitting that Adora would be in the family of the last great Mand’alor,” Glimmer said before turning to Adora. “Unless you don’t want this?”

“No I just don’t know if I deserve it?” Adora said, still trying to avoid the gaze of the crowd to no avail.

“Let Razz take you in and we’ll shape you up right Adora.” Glimmer waited for some signal from Adora, studying her face closely. A timid smile crossed Adora’s face as she nodded.

“Good, then do you vow to fight the good fight, protecting the Mandalorian tribe?” Glimmer said loudly, insuring the assembled crowd could hear.

“I vow to fight to protect who I can.” Adora said with growing confidence. Razz approached and pulled her down so their foreheads touched.

“_Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad_, _Adora_ _aliit Mara_” Razz said as the crowd began to cheer. 

“Welcome to Clan Mara my child.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a couple Mandalorian phrases I pulled and adapted from the very limited lexicon, mostly made through the old games. 
> 
> "Beskar" - a special, highly durable alloy used by the Mandalorians. Able to deflect most blasters and some lightsaber strikes.
> 
> "ky’ram’gar" - "the last of the dead" - the preserved bits of armor from dead Mandalorian warriors, used as a grave marker and commemoration of the deceased. 
> 
> "Mand'alor" - "Leader of the Mandalorians"
> 
> "Dha’beskad" - "the Darksaber" - the black lightsaber that has been wielded by many Mand'alors, now seen as a symbol of the position.
> 
> "ar’nov aliit" - "to defend the clan/defense of others"
> 
> “Ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad, Adora aliit Mara” - "I know your name as my child, Adora of Clan Mara" - the traditional Mandalorian adoption ritual known as the Gai bal Manda


End file.
